I have been fishing all winter long here in Sarasota and having considerable success with a size 2 clouser (chartreuse/white). Most days I hook up with 50 fish averaging 4 species. Today for example, I got my first pompano of the season as well as the normal seatrout, ladyfish, and pinfish. I use natural deer hair with about 8 strands of chartreuse crystal flash tied in on the top of the hook shank before I tie in the white deer tail hair.

I make a case that fish have an ability to see polarized light and that the reflected light off the tail hair of the whitetail deer is likely polarized so fish see it better and can cue into the fly more quickly. I wish someone with a polarimeter could test reflected light off these hairs to determine if this is valid. Meanwhile, I'll continue to tie the naturals as I believe I catch more fish.

I'll use the same pattern tied on a 1/0 hook or 2/0 hook in RI next month to catch strippers. It is just a great all around saltwater pattern.

For sharks like blacktips (very fun on a fly with fast runs and jumps) I've had the best luck with slpayed tail saddle hackle with red palmered necks, and bunny tails with red necks. Keep the fly a foot in front of their noses for a long ways once they start tracking on it. Long casts are a big help when sight fishing for them.